Georgia LPN to RN Programs

There is no career with the same growth as the registered nursing field. Expected to stay the fastest growing career path through 2020 at a minimum, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, you are already on your way to becoming a part of this important field. As our population grows and ages, the need for quality health care becomes important and in less than two years you can become a registered nurse to make an even larger impact on your community’s health. Learning to work with your patients and their families will be a big focus of your new position, so ensure that you have the patience, understanding and caring needed to really make a difference in people’s lives.

With around 65,000 registered nurses currently working in the state, there is a significant shortage of registered nurses that needs to be filled. Once you complete your education and pass the NCLEX-RN licensing exam, you will enter a field where the average income is almost $61,000 a year. Experience, education, employer, location and a number of other things will factor into where you start on the pay scale. Experience and education will be your two most important focuses throughout the next few years, but balancing a full time work schedule, a personal life and an education can seem all but impossible. Fortunately, looking into an online program will give you a glimpse of hope that you can, indeed, find the balance you need to work and earn a degree at the same time.

Each student is unique, while some will want a degree that is only earned online, others will want a mixture of online and campus based programs. You will need to decide what is right for you. National online colleges offer a wide range of degree programs with specialties in a number of areas, but the programs are online only in most cases. Local colleges will offer a mixture of online and campus based courses with plenty of options for specializations and other electives. You won’t need to be a computer genius to understand how an online program works. It is simply a webpage that you follow links through to find your classes and other important student services. Due dates for graded work are your only requirements, the rest of your time is scheduled daily by you. Some students only study on weekends, or during their lunch breaks, others will set aside an hour a night.

A great resource throughout your education and career will be the Georgia Nurses Association. With a focus on ensuring that you are represented and plenty of advice for those heading into the registered nursing career path, you will find plenty of help at this point in your journey. As you become more experienced, you will be able to pass on your knowledge to new registered nurses as well as take part in the legislative and representative tasks the GNA focuses on. Click here for more information about this wonderful networking environment.

Paying for College

Any student understands the financial investment that a college education will bring. While an LPN to RN program can be completed in one or two years depending on your goals, the need to find a way to cover the financial burden is still a prime focus for most students. Turn to your employer first to find out what benefits you quality for. In many cases, tuition assistance or tuition reimbursement will be offered as well as a permanent position upon graduation. Colleges also offer unique loans, scholarships and other financial assistance to students that enroll in their courses, so make sure that is a focus of your questioning as you explore schools.

Finally, explore the loans, scholarships and loan repayment plans offered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Pay special attention to the loan repayment programs as they offer a large payment towards your student debt upon completion of a two year commitment to an underserved area. This experience is also highly respected by employers. You can find all the information you need right here.

While listing each nursing program in Georgia would be possible as a huge part of this article, the information is better laid out on the Georgia Board of Nursing website. You will find plenty of information that will help you decide what school is right for your particular needs. Keep in mind that the site only covers the schools in the state, so if you are interested in a national online college, such as a few listed on this site, you will need to explore those separately. Research will be key in ensuring that you find the right college, so take your time and talk to each school until you find a few that seem right for your particular goals.